Earley and Woodley (UK Parliament constituency)

Earley and Woodley
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Interactive map of boundaries from 2024
Boundary of Earley and Woodley in South East England
County	Berkshire
Electorate	70,083 (2023) [1]
Major settlements	Earley, Woodley, Shinfield
Current constituency
Created	2024
Member of Parliament	Yuan Yang (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	Reading West, Reading East, Maidenhead, and Wokingham

Earley and Woodley is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. ^[2] Following the completion of the 2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies, it was first contested at the 2024 general election. It is represented by Yuan Yang of the Labour Party.

History

At the time of the 2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies, there were eight constituencies in the county of Berkshire. Of these constituencies, only three (Reading East, Reading West, and Windsor) were within the permitted electorate range of no fewer than 69,724 electors and no more than 77,062. All of the remaining constituencies were above the upper limit. The Boundary Commission for England therefore proposed the addition of a ninth constituency within the county. ^{[3] [4]}

Whilst both Reading constituencies could have remained unchanged, the boundary commission instead proposed a reconfiguration to account for the increased electorates of the surrounding constituencies, and to better reflect local ties in the surrounding communities. This involved the creation of two new constituencies, Earley and Woodley and Mid Berkshire (renamed Reading West and Mid Berkshire in the final proposals), both with the bulk of their electorate outside the Borough of Reading but including outer wards of the borough, together with a new Reading Central constituency entirely within the borough. ^[3]

In June 2023, the Conservatives selected Pauline Jorgensen, the leader of the opposition group on Wokingham Borough Council, as their prospective parliamentary candidate for the seat. In December 2023, the Labour Party selected Earley resident Yuan Yang, a Financial Times journalist and social campaigner, as their candidate. On 5th February 2024, the Liberal Democrats announced they had selected Tahir Maher, a former Mayor of Earley, as their candidate. ^{[5] [6] [7]}

Boundaries

The constituency is composed of the following wards (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

• The Borough of Reading wards of Church; Whitley.
• The Borough of Wokingham wards of Bulmershe and Whitegates; Coronation; Hawkedon; Hillside; Loddon; Maiden Erlegh; Shinfield North; Shinfield South; Sonning; South Lake. ^[8]

It covers:

• The southern-most Borough of Reading wards of Church and Whitley, transferred respectively from the former Reading East and Reading West constituencies

• Western areas of the Borough of Wokingham previously included in the constituencies of Maidenhead, Reading East and Wokingham, including the communities of Sonning, Earley, Shinfield and Woodley

The constituency is bordered by the seats of Reading West and Mid Berkshire, Reading Central, Henley and Thame, and Wokingham. ^{[9] [10]}

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
Created from Maidenhead, Reading East, Reading West and Wokingham
	2024	Yuan Yang	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Earley and Woodley (notional) [11]
Party		Vote	%
	Conservative	24,922	48.8
	Labour	13,629	26.7
	Liberal Democrats	11,147	21.8
	Green	1,134	2.2
	Brexit Party	278	0.5
Turnout		51,110	72.9

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Earley and Woodley ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Yuan Yang	18,209	39.7	+13.0
	Conservative	Pauline Jorgensen	17,361	37.8	−11.0
	Liberal Democrats	Tahir Maher	6,142	13.4	−8.4
	Green	Gary Shacklady	3,418	7.4	+5.2
	SDP	Alastair Hunter	784	1.7	N/A
Majority			848	1.9	New
Turnout			45,914	62.4	10.5
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	12.0

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Berkshire
• List of parliamentary constituencies in the South East England (region)

References

1. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – South East". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
2. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – South East | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
3. "Initial proposals for new Parliamentary constituency boundaries in the South East region". Boundary Commission for England. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
4. "Background to the 2023 Review". Boundary Commission for England. Archived from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
5. Atkinson, William (25 June 2023). "'Hard-working' Jorgensen selected in Earley and Woodley". Conservative Home. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
6. "Yuan Yang selected as Labour candidate for new Earley and Woodley MP seat". Reading Chronicle. 18 December 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
7. "Liberal Democrats announce General Election candidates for Reading". Reading Liberal Democrats. 5 February 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
8. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 6 South East region.
9. "Revised Proposals for the South East Region" (PDF). Boundary Commission for England. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
10. "2023 Review final recommendations map". Boundary Commission for England . 2024. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
11. "Notional results for a UK general election on 12 December 2019". Rallings & Thrasher, Professor David Denver (Scotland), Nicholas Whyte (NI) for Sky News, PA, BBC News and ITV News. UK Parliament . Retrieved 11 July 2024.
12. "Earley and Woodley - General election results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 26 July 2024.

External links

• Earley and Woodley UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK
• Earley and Woodley Labour Party Official Website

51°25′N0°55′W / 51.42°N 0.92°W / 51.42; -0.92